Shaft-support for vehicles



E (No ModeL') P. P. GHAM BERLIN.

SHAFT SUPPORT FOR VEHICLES.

No. 333,339. 3 Patented Feb. 2, 1333.

INVEN TOR ATTORNEYS.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRANK P. OHAMBERLIN, OF CARLISLE, OHIO.

SHAFT-SUPPORT FOR VEHICLES.

SPECIPICATIQN forming part of Letters Patent No. 335,339, dated February 2, 1886. Application filed August 3, 1885. Serial No. 173,390. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK P. CHAMBER- LIN, of (larlisle, in the county of \Varren and State of Ohio, have invented a new and Improved Shaft-Supporting Attachment, ofwhich the following is a full, clear, and exact de scription.

The objectof my invention is to provide an attachment for holding carriage or wagon shafts in an elevated or upright position when the vehicles supplied with the attachment are not in use.

The invention consists of a metal strip that is carried by the shafts and a spring carried by the shaft-clip and secured thereto in a manner to be hereinafter described, and in certain details of construction, as will be more fully explained, and specifically pointed out in the claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, formingpart of this specification, in which similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure l is a perspective view of the supporting attachment, representing the same as in position for use. Fig. 2 is a detail view of the steel spring carried by the shaft-clip, and Fig. 3 is a detail view of the strip carried by the shafts.

In the construction shown in Fig. 1, A is the axle, and B the bolster resting thereon, the ends of which parts are, as usual, secured together by the shaft-clip (J, and this clip also serves as the support for the shaft D, which is attached thereto by means of the eye-iron E and bolt I), said iron being held to the shaft by the bolts a a, which serve an additional purpose, that will presently be explained.

A steel spring, F, is secured to the under side of the axle A, beneath the clip 0, by means of the usual clip-bolts and nuts, said bolts passing through holest' t, made in the stock of the spring. From its point of attachment to the axle the spring F projects slightly forward and then downward and backward to form the curve 0, projecting backward, downward, and again forward and up ward from c in a sweeping curve to form the loop (I, the free end of the spring being bent to form the notch e, as best shown in Fig. 2, so that the general outline of the spring corresponds to that of the letter S when formed with an enlarged lower loop.

A metal strip, H, preferably made from malleable iron, is secured to the under side i of the butt of the shafts by being brought into engagement with the bolts a a, which pass through elongated longitudinal slots f f, formed in the strip H. The strip H follows the general curve of the eye-iron E to a point just below the lower bolt a, below which it projects far enough to bear upon the upper side of the spring F, when the shafts are raised considerably above a horizontal position, and being so proportionately curved that its lower end, It, will rest within the notch or depression 0 in the free end of the spring F when the shafts are raised to the positionshown in Fig. 1.

When the shafts have beenraised so that the point It: will rest within the notch c, the pressure of the spring F will be sufficient to hold the shafts in an elevated position; but when it is desired to lower the shafts all that is required is a gentle pull upon them to disengage the point 7.', which, when the shafts are lowered,will enter the loop (Z of the spring F.

The idea of forming the bar H with elongated slots ff is to provide for variation in the placing of the bolts a c, for, with the construction indicated, the bar may be attached to almost any form of shaft.

The shafts of wagons supplied with my improved supporting attachment may be held in an elevated position, where they will be out of the way and still be in position so that a horse can be led beneath them to be hitched to the wagon.

This attachment is placed in such a position as to be entirely out of the way, and is, moreover, cheap, durable, and simple, and will not get out of order.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination, with a wagon and its shafts, of a spring, F, secured beneath the shaft-clip, and bent to have the loop (I and notch e, and a strip, H, carried by the shaft, substantially as described.

2. The combination, with a wagon and its shafts, of a spring, F, secured beneath the shaft-clip, and bent to have the curve 0, loop (I and notch c, and a strip, H, formed with slots f f, substantially as described.

FRANK YP. HAMBERLTN.

\Vitnesses:

S. S. RoBINsoN, J. D. MILLER. 

